lawrence_abeyta

Between Albuquerque and Santa Fe you will find a beautiful slot canyon, Tent Rocks; it is our latest national monument. Take the exit from interstate 40 to Cochiti Pueblo and follow the signs.

Enjoy your visit to our Land of Enchantment.

I go to Yellowstone once a year. Last year I saw 20 grizzly, 4 black bear, 5 wolves, moose, elk, big horn sheep, etc. As others mentioned, Hayden and Lamar valley are great places for wild life viewing, especially in the morning and evening. Lamar Valley is a great place for wolf watching; the Druid Peak pack's territory crosses the road so they are seeing often. Evenings in Hayden Valley you can watch grizzly hunt elk calf; we saw two kills last year. We usually get great photos of grizzly between Canyon and Roosevelt at Dunraven Pass. We did see two grizzly take down a calf outside our cabin at Lake Lodge. Take a hike up Mt. Washburn and you can get some good photos of big horn sheep. I would suggest staying in Canyon; it is well located for traveling to other locations in the park. Lots of moose in the Tetons and the southern part of Yellowstone. I�m soon off to my yearly trip to Yellowstone, but I�m taking my time both ways. I will be visiting Arches, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, and then home.

Try the Canon 100-400mm IS L lens. It is extremely sharp, has the useful IS feature that works well if you are shooting from a vehicle, it is fairly inexpensive for a profesional lens at around $1600, and it is easy to pack. You will love this lens!

The Bald Eagles perched in the trees on the north loop, but I did see many soaring in the south. We saw some on the ground near the road to the entrance. Someone mentioned to me that a ranger stated that they have started to migrate and the count is down to 38; I have not confirmed that. I was able to get full frame of some flying, but the perched ones were far enough that I had to include scenery. Just after sunset, I did find one Bald Eagle perched very close to my van (15 yards), but not enough light for a good shot. At one location, I was able to see 11 perched around me. I was shooting with a Canon 100-400mm L IS lens and a 1.4x extender. I suggest you call the refuge to find out the count when you come to Albuquerque.

I was at Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge (New Mexico) this weekend

taking pictures of Bald Eagles; the count was 68 on Saturday. Anyone

looking for great photo opportunities of Bald Eagles should plan a

trip. I noticed that they perch in the same tree for hours during

the day, which gives you plenty of time for different framing and

exposures. Can anyone on this forum give me some information about

Bald Eagle behavior? Do they have a morning and evening pattern?

One thing you may be overlooking, some of the roads are closed in snowstorms. In Ohio, where my wife is from, it is rare that a road is closed for a snowstorm, but in New Mexico, it is common. The state police will not let cars on the highway. If you need to be in Colorado Springs on a certain day, just plan appropriately, especially if you visit the northern mountain towns of New Mexico.

As others mentioned, occasionally snow closes I-25 this time of year, but not often. It is an easy 6-hour drive from Albuquerque to Colorado Springs. I suggest taking an extra day and spend some time in New Mexico. You could visit Santa Fe, Taos, or even go south to Bosque Del Apache, Carlsbad Caverns, and White Sands.

I just returned from a two day photo shoot at the Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge; the amount and variety of birds is incredible. Here is a website: http://southwest.fws.gov/refuges/newmex/bosque.html

I think you will find that this lens will produce the results you get with your other lenses. I have some sharp shots with solid backgrounds. I will have to scan in some slides to show you some results.

I forgot to mention one item above. As far as I understand, the bokeh is determined by the number of aperture (diaphragm) blades; the more the blades, the better the bokeh. This lens has eight, just like Canon's other big lenses.

I just purchased this lens; I love it! It is very sharp from 100-400mm over the entire aperture range. The results are very good with Canon's 1.4x. The IS on the lens works well for a flight lens; I have been shooting Sandhill Cranes as they travel south to the Bosque Del Apache south of here. Tonight I will make a point to look at my test slides for the bokeh, and I will report back on this thread.

You can ask yourself this question about many great things in life, and the answer is the same for each subject, not just photography. Why do symphonies play great masterpieces from the master composers, which have obviously been played and recorded thousands of times? Because they are great works, and they want to personally experience playing them. Why do mountain climbers climb great mountains that have been climbed buy hundreds of others? Because the mountain is great, and they want to feel the rush of reaching the top. I could go purchase a great photo of bears from Katmai National Park, but I won't, because I personally want to go and take it myself. By the way, the audience never tires of hearing Beethoven�s 9th.

West of Ruidoso is the Bosque del Apache. John Shaw is planning a class at the end of November at this location. Arthur Morris is also conducting a class at the end of November. As others mentioned, you have to see White Sands.

I was looking at the Photo Safaris web-site and noticed the Bosque

del Apache, New Mexico trip in Nov-Dec with John Shaw. I would like

comments from anyone that has shot at this location.

Bob, why the Nikon close-up diopter over the 500D Canon? Price? I am planning to purchase a close-up diopter, but I don't like the Canon price: $82 dollars. Nikon's diopters cost around $32 dollars. Any difference on the quality?

I read that some cameras will lock-up the mirror when the timer is

used. Do you know if the Elan IIe does this?

I own the ElanIIe; I really like this camera. The specs say it has MLU (mirror lockup). Can the user force the mirror to lock-up?